August Wilson

August Wilson, Frederick August Kittel actually (* April 27, 1945 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, † October 2, 2005 in Seattle ), was an American dramatist and playwright and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner. In 2005 he was honored for his life's work with the Anisfield - Wolf Book Award.

Life

August Wilson walked out the connection of an African - American mother, Daisy Wilson, and a German -Bohemian father, Frederick August Kittel forth. As the eldest son he was named after his father, named Fredrick August Kittel. After his father's death (1965 ) he took his mother's surname. He was married three times and moved his center of vital first to Minneapolis, then to Seattle. Suffering from liver cancer, Wilson died age of 60 in a hospital in Seattle. He is buried in Pittsburgh, where there is also an August Wilson Center for African- American culture since 2006.

Work

Initially, he worked as a gardener, dishwasher and sellers. His breakthrough as a playwright he experienced in 1987 with the Broadway premiere of his play about the blues singer Ma Rainey. This piece is part of a series of ten plays, each dedicated to a decade of the 20th century. Besides "Ma Rainey ," which Chicago has a place of action, all the pieces play in his hometown of Pittsburgh. Wilson is the preeminent African-American playwright. Among his literary models include Amiri Baraka, James Baldwin and Jorge Luis Borges. August Wilson was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1987 for his play Fences ( "Fences " ) and in 1990 for The Piano Lesson ( " The Piano Lesson "). Eight of Wilson's works have been staged on Broadway. His plays have not been translated into German.

The pieces